Another DTH platform for Georgia

Georgia seems to be going the way of Romania in having an excess of would-be satellite operators. JSC Global, a Tbilisi–based media company, says it has signed a multi-year lease with Eutelsat in order to launch a new DTH pay-TV bouquet for Georgia, “its surrounding regions and as far as Western Europe”.

JSC will use Eutelsat’s 36B craft with 4 free-to-air channels and “progressively expand to include both Georgian and international channels.” JSC adds that it will supply “several thousand dishes across Georgia”.

JSC will be operating against MagtiSat, which launched more than a year ago and already has more than 100 channels on air (and using SES Astra capacity), GMG which operates via cable and launched in 2010, Silk TV which is IPTV-based, and Black Sea Sat, each of which is anticipating growth.

Meanwhile, practically every home and apartment block bristles with dishes pointing every which way, and where analogue cable viewing still dominates.